‘Parks and Recreation’ Is Returning For a New Special

It’s fun to imagine what some of our favorite old shows would have done with a coronavirus episode. Seinfeld’s would have been great. All in the Family’s would have been incredible. And Parks and Recreationwould have been incredible. (Vulture recently published a really great feature on this subject if you want to imagine more quarantine-themed episodes of great TV series.)

Sadly Parks and Rec ended five years ago — but as luck would have it, the creators of the show agree that the time is right for a reunion. Today, NBC announced we’re getting A Parks and Recreation Special that will feature “all of the original characters from the series.” The 30-minute reunion will feature cast members Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O’Heir, Retta, and “several guest stars.”

The press release says the story will find “Pawnee’s most dedicated civil servant, Leslie Knope, is determined to stay connected to her friends in a time of social distancing.” So it sounds like we can expect a very high-end version of the kinds of Zoom and Skype cast reunions we’ve seen in recent weeks. Series executive producer Michael Shur said the crew wanted to raise some money in these difficult times and sent out a “hopeful email” asking for contributors; the entire cast “all got back to [him] within 45 minutes.”

A Parks and Recreation Special airs on Thursday, April 30 at 8:30PM. Here’s Amy Poehler’s announcement of the new show.